The School Run
by Uh.yeah
Summary: Ruth's sick so that means Jess doesn't have a ride...Oneshot for now.


I really don't know what this is. It came from absolutely nowhere.

I'm probably going to leave this as a one-shot for now, because I already have two other stories on the go. But if I ever finish them, maybe I'll add a bit more onto this. But I said maybe, people, maybe.

Hope you enjoy this fanfiction oddity.

**Disclaimer: Belongs to Meg Cabot. But I'm guessing you knew that. At least, I'm hoping you did, anyway.**

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"Hey Claire," I smiled, as I went up to join her at the bus stop. 

I know. I was at the bus stop. And this time, I wasn't there in order to find out about a murder or anything. This time I was there because Ruth was sick. And, yeah, I know you can't exactly hold that kind of thing against your best friend. I mean, it's not exactly her fault her temperature's pushing 100° and she can't keep any food down. I know that. It's just that taking the bus to school sucks.

But whatever. It's just a bus, right?

"Hey Jess," Claire smiled back at me. It's actually kind of unnerving that for someone so pretty and popular, Claire can be so nice at the same time. Although, she is dating my brother, so I wouldn't expect her to be mean or anything.

I then noticed that Claire had one of her drama friends with her. And let me tell you, she did not look at all pleased to be getting the bus. She kept kind of glancing at the geeks around her nervously, as if they'd bite or something. Which was wholly unfair, because they're nice people and all. They just happen to lack certain social skills.

"This is Sue," Claire said, introducing me, "She stayed over last night to run lines, for the new play."

"Hey," I said causally to Sue.

"Oh, hey," muttered Sue, looking completely disinterested. Obviously, it was an effort to talk to me because I wasn't a) doing drama or b) a cheerleader. And even though Claire is probably one of the nicest people I know, this unfortunately didn't extend to her friends.

We talked a bit after that. Well, I mean me and Claire talked. Mainly about what Mike would want for his birthday and where we were going for it. But when we branched out into drama – I could talk about the play fairly comfortably, seeing as how my detention time was shared with their rehearsal time – Sue joined in a bit more. And she wasn't too bad. I mean, we would never be the best of friends, or anything, but she was alright.

Whatever. Since when did I go in for character assessments so much?

The bus had just drawn up and me, Claire and Sue were all preparing to get on, when a very familiar Trans Am suddenly pulled up beside us in what the driver probably thought was an impressive way. But instead just looked kind of lame.

"Hey, Jess!" yelled, Skip, "What are you doing here?"

Which actually started to give me a strong feeling of déjà vu.

"Your sister's sick," I said, patiently. I mean, she wasn't just his sister, she was his twin sister. How could he not know she was ill? And did he miss the part where Ruth's been driving me to school since she first bought her cabriolet?

"Oh, yeah," answered Skips, as if he'd just remembered, "Well, she could've just asked me to take you, you know. I wouldn't have minded. I guess she forgot."

Privately, I thought it was more likely that Ruth made sure Skip didn't know I needed a ride. And to be honest, I was kind of thankful for it. But I wouldn't tell Skip that.

"Yeah, she probably did. Oh, look, the bus's here, Skip. Nice talking to you, but I better go. See you around." And I hoped that wasn't too harsh, I really did. It's just that while Skip's nice and all, he's nowhere near the same as Rob.

"Jess, you moron," - for someone who supposedly had a crush on me, he sure was free with the insults -"I'll drive you again. It's no problem."

"What about Claire and Sue?" I asked, glancing over at the two girls behind me.

"You guys can come too," Skip said to them. I noticed he looked at Sue for a little longer than necessary, "If you don't mind getting squashed."

"Oh, no, we don't mind at all," said Sue quickly as she rushed to get away from the backpack patrol.

Somehow - and I really don't know how - me and Claire ended up squashed in the back, with Sue sitting in the front.

But I guess it was better that way. I mean, Claire was taken by my brother. I was taken by Rob. Well, I hoped I was, anyway. We don't seem to be making much progress in the whole boyfriend/girlfriend area. But, whatever. I didn't want Skip to be acting all sweet on me, or anything.

And Sue was actually kind of pretty. And even though Skip was like a grade-A loser, she didn't seem to mind too much. As in, she was actually laughing at his jokes. A feat I had certainly never managed to achieve without a great deal of effort. But maybe she was just real grateful for the ride, I don't know.

Me and Claire were trying to make conversation in the back. But it's kind of hard to think when you're squashed in that tightly. Luckily, I'm tiny. But Claire? Yeah, she's really tall.

So I was too busy concentrating on making sure I wasn't invading her personal space too much to pay much attention to where we were going. I mean, we were only going to school.

But I have to say, when Sue suddenly squealed, "Oh, crullers! I love crullers!" - and Skip replied smugly, "Yeah, I remembered you ladies like them," - I looked up pretty quickly in surprise. And the next thing I knew, I was climbing unsteadily out of the car and into the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot.

And what's more, I knew that if I walked up right to the edge of the parking lot where it met the road, I would be able to see the garage Rob worked at. And maybe even Rob himself.

But Ruth's 'rules' aside, even I knew that that would be going a bit far. Maybe even bordering on the stalkerish side. So with a heavy, but determined, heart, I followed the others into Dunkin' Donuts.

"Hey," said Claire, as we queued up to pay, "Doesn't your boyfriend work next door? You know - the grit." And even though that sounded mean, you could tell Claire didn't mean it that way. She was just kind of backward in her views of townies and grits.

"Oh, my God," said Sue, all wide eyed, "You're dating a grit?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah I am," Well I _think_ I am, "You know, not everything you hear about them is true." And I smartly stepped up to pay. While inside, I was thinking, "_Oh God, let's go and get this over with_."

As we were stepping back out in the parking lot, I was just walking along behind Skip, Sue and Claire, trying to ignore the fact that they actually seemed interested in what Skip was saying about how he sometimes acted out parts at conventions -I kid you not -when suddenly, just outside the door, they all stopped and stared at something.

Or, should I say, some_one_.

Yep. I followed them out and came face to face with the guy I loved. And would hopefully marry someday, if he ever realises he loves me and proposes. And at the moment, the chances of that are absolutely nil.

"Oh," I said, completely astonished, "What are you doing here?" I know, nice greeting for the guy you love, right? But like I said, I was astonished.

Rob just looked at me like I was insane. "I work next door, Mastriani, and I happen to like crullers. I think it should be _me_ asking what _you're_ doing here."

Wow, he was pleased to see me. Marriage was certainly starting to look even further away.

"They wanted crullers," I said, modestly motioning to Skip, Claire and Sue. And let me tell you, I was so glad that for once, I had had no part in dragging them down here.

Skip, Claire and Sue just stared at us, wide eyed. Clearly, they couldn't get over the fact that this was the famous 'grit'.

Rob walked me so we were a little further away.

"Aren't you supposed to be going to school?" he asked, pointedly.

"Dude," I said, a little heatedly – he was acting like my _mom_, for crying out loud, "I am. Skip just stopped off to get some crullers."

"So _that's_ Skip," said Rob, looking briefly over at our small group of onlookers, "I thought you normally get a ride with Ruth."

"I do," I said, rolling my eyes. It was turning into an interrogation, and I get enough of that from the feds, thank you very much. "Ruth's sick, so Skip offered to save me from the bus. It was real nice of him."

Suddenly, Rob took me by the arm and started walking me back over to the others, "Ok, Mastriani, I'll give you a lift into school."

I stopped and stared at him. "Rob, you have to work."

"I know, but dropping you off is hardly going to take up that much time."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Was it possible that Rob was jealous? Nah, he was probably just suffering from a responsibility complex, or something. You know, making sure I got to school on time.

"Really, Rob, it's fine," I said as we reached the others, "It's cool going with the others." I honestly had no idea why I was protesting so much. I mean, I was turning down the chance to be driven to school by my totally hot boyfriend. Sure, I didn't want to disrupt him from his work, but he clearly wanted to. What was wrong with me?

"Is that yours?" Rob asked Skip, pointing at the red Trans Am.

"Yeah," answered Skip, a little proudly.

Rob raised his eyebrows at me.

I looked over at Claire and even though I could tell she was trying to look like she didn't care, I knew she wasn't exactly keen on the fact of squashing up in the back with me.

"Ok, guys," I sighed, acting like I'd been forced into it, "Rob's offered to drop me off at school. And you could do with the extra room. So, see you around, I guess. Thanks for the ride," I added, smiling kindly at Skip.

"Nice meeting you," said Claire politely to Rob, as they headed off, "See you later, Jess."

"Alright, come on," said Rob, starting to lead me over to the garage.

"Hang on," I held back a little, "What about your crullers?" I figured that seeing as he was so keen to drive me to school, we could hang out a little beforehand. You know, talk and stuff.

But no. I guess for that to happen, my so-called boyfriend would actually have to like spending time in my company.

Because Rob turned round and said, "You don't wanna be late, Mastriani. Now come on."

"Jeez," I moaned, as I followed him, "You're behaving like a Goddamn parent."

I think I may have hit a nerve, judging by the way Rob suddenly turned round, cupped my face in his hands and started kissing me. And let me tell you, it was agood kiss. A really good kiss. So I reached up and linked my arms behind his neck. And Rob deepened the kiss even further, while tangling one hand in my hair and wrapping his other arm around my waist.

And once again, marriage seemed possible.

I moaned a little as he started exploring my mouth with his tongue. But instead of encouraging him, as it would normally do, Rob suddenly drew back and stopped. I blinked a little, confused by the sudden and completely unwelcome separation.

"Ok, maybe not so like a parent," I confessed, as my brain finally managed to start functioning again.

Rob smiled a completely heart-stopping smile at me, took my hand and continued leading me over to the garage.

Ten minutes later, I had my arms wrapped tightly around Rob and we were going fast. It was probably the only time in my life I have ever been happy about going to school.

All too soon, though, Rob was killing the engine and waiting for me to get off. And I was staring up at the gates of Ernie Pyle High.

I kind of hung back after I'd handed back the spare helmet. You know, hoping he'd maybe wish me a good day at school. Kiss me goodbye...

But it seems I was destined to be disappointed. Rob remained on the bike, just staring at me.

"You gonna need a lift tomorrow?" he asked, at last.

"I don't know," I frowned. "Depends if Ruth's still sick."

"Well if she is, I can give you one."

Was I a bad friend for instantly hoping Ruth wouldstill be sick?

"That's ok," I said, trying to keep my voice level, but aware of how fast my heart was beating, "I'm sure I can get one with Skip again."

"I said I can do it," said Rob quickly, "Call me tonight about it, ok?"

I nodded, pleased. Well, of course I was pleased. He didn't live anywhere near me, but he was offering to give me a lift. In the morning. He had to like me at least a little.

"Hey," he said, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, "You won't have a lift tonight, either, will you?"

"Oh, no," I said, starting to feel seriously guilty. I couldn't have him running around everywhere for me, "Don't worry about it. I can ring someone. Actually, I'm sure Sk-"

"Mastriani," said Rob, warningly, "I'll be there," he said, with a note of finality in his voice.

"Ok," I said grudgingly, "But remember, I have-"

"Detention," finished Rob for me, a half-amused, half-disgusted smile on his face.

He continued smiling at me for a while. And I just smiled dopily back.

What? I can't help it! I'm in love, for Chrissakes.

Eventually though, I realised that I really had to get to class.

"Uh," I began reluctantly, "I have to go. So I guess I'll see you tonight..." I started to turn away, kind of irritated that he'd gone this long without kissing me. I mean, here was a girl, practically _begging_ to make out with him, but he wouldn't do anything about it. Although, I guess he could have been kind of aware of the whole jailbait factor because we were at school.

Suddenly though, he reached out and gently grabbed hold of my arm. Drawing me forward, he planted a light, butterfly kiss on my lips, pulling away before I could deepen it any further.

And then he was starting up the engine and yelling, "See you," faster than you could mention the word 'probation."

But I didn't mind.

Well, I find it kind of hard to stay mad at Rob over anything. Which is a major weakness, I know, but there's something about him. Maybe it's love?

Whatever. All I can say is that I got reprimanded three times during first period for not concentrating. Which was wholly unfair. Because I was concentrating really hard. Just, you know, not on what they wanted me to be focussing on.

Still, even having to eat lunch pretty much alone didn't faze me.

Let me tell you, I was looking forward to hometime.

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Review! Please! I need to know your thoughts and opinions. 

Seriously, I do.


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